Method of and mechanism for heel attaching



- Jim. 25,1927.

.1. B. HADAWAY METHOD OF AND MECHANISM FOR HEEL ATTACHING Filed Oct. 25. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 25 1927' J. B. HADAWAY METHOD OF AND MECHANISM FOR HEEL ATTACHING 2 Sheets-Shed 2 Filed Oct. 25, 1922 Patented Jan. 25, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN 'B. HADAWAY, or Swen/Escorts, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR r0 UNITED SHOE MAGHINERY CORPORATION, or PATE'RSON, NEW JERSEY, A ooRroRA'rIoN on NEW ITERS'EY.

METHOD OF AND MECHANISM FOR HEEL ATTA'CHING.

Application filed October 2B, 1922, serial nc. 596,887.

This invention relates to methods of and mechanism for heel attaching and is particularly "applicable to the attachment of rubber or analogous cushion, or elastic, heels.

The great majority of cushion heels in use"t'oda'y are composed of rubber or some composition containing rubber and, therefore, for the sake of brevity, such heels will be referred to in the following specification and claims as rubber heels, but it should be clearly understood that the term rubber heel, wherever used, is to be construed to include elastic or cushion heels of any deso-ription, regardless of the particular materials entering into their composition.

In attaching rubber heels by machinery, considerable dilficulty was at first experienced in causing the attaching nails to find unerringly, and pass properly through, the holes in the washers which are commonly embedded in such heels. This difficulty, as is well understood by those skilled in the art. resulted principally from the fact that in individual heels, even those supposedly identical, the relation of the washers or washer bearing portionsof the heels was not exactly the same. More recently, this difficult'y has been partially overcome by the use of methods and apparatus such as are described and claimed in the copending ap plications of Samuel Stanick, Serial No.

480,056, filed June 24, 1921 and the resent inventor, Serial No. 487,314, filed uly 23, 1921. The present invention may, in a certain sense, be regarded as an improvement upon, the inventions disclosedin these 00- pen'c'ling applications. hen pressure is applied to a rubber heel, prior to the driving of the attaching nails, there is a considerable tendency toward a readjustment of the relation of the washers to each other, audit is sometimes difficult to hold the washer bearing portions of the heel sufliciently to prevent the washers from shifting. The present invention differs radically from those disclosed in the'said copending applications in that it provides a method'of heel attaching according to which points at which the nails are to be inserted in the heel are first located and then, if any movement of such points occurs when the pressure is applied toth'e heel to force it into contact with "the shoeor "heel base, the movement of the located 'points "is followed, the attaching nails being inserted and driven at the final positions'o'f said points. By practising this method it becomes possible 'to nail 'the heels with uniformity and accuracy, even though the washers or other features of construction which determine the points at which the nails must be driven may shift considerably and may shift differently in different heels. This method is successfully applicable to heels of curved cross section as well as flat heels and, accordingly, in another aspect of the invention an improved method of heel attaching is providedwhich comprises first locating the points at which the attaching nails are to be driven, then flattening the heel while following the movement of the located points, and finally inserting and driving attaching nails through the heel at the final positions of Said points.

From another point of view a valuable feature of the invention resides in apparatus or mechanism constructed and organized to facilitate the practice of the method above outlined. To this end a heel attaching ma- -'chi*n'e is provided with combined "point locating and nail guiding means which is capable of first locating the points at which nails are to be driven in the heel and then followingthese points as they shift during the application of pressure. In theillustrated embodiment of the invention the means referredto consists of nail guiding elements mounted and arranged to be positioned transversely of the line of drive of the nails by the work itself. The nail guiding elements may conveniently'comprise nail guiding tubes suspended in a manner to permit their nozzle ends to move freely through the necessary range, the said nozzle ends being externally tapered to a form approximately illustrated, the tubes are mounted for universal movement about their upper ends, which are ball-like and are seated in appropriately formed sockets in the nailing die.

The locating and nail guiding members may advantageously be provided with means for retaining therein a nail with its point projecting more or less and by this means even greater certainty in the insertion and starting of the nail at the proper point may be assured.

In a more specific development of the invention it is proposed that differently formed nail guiding members, or members projecting different distances from the heel engaging face of the die shall be used in nailing work having different surface characteristics at diflerent nailing locations.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from reading the following detailed description of one exemplification thereof, in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation showing the nailing die of a heeling machine embodying the lnvention, with the work in position for the first step of the method;

Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. 1 illustrating the position of the parts at the second stage in the performance of the method;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of one of the locating and nail guiding members;

Fig. 4 illustrates a modification of the member shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view partly in sec tion of the rubber heel shown in section in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 6 is a view, similar to Fig. 1, of a modification; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a heel which IInay be attached by the mechanism shown in Referring now to the drawings, 10 indicates a portion of the nailing die of a heel attaching machine and 12 indicates a gang of drivers which are reciprocated at the proper time to drive the attaching nails.

Instead of the usual holes of approximately the diameter of the nails and drivers, the die 10 is provided with a suitably arranged group of enlarged holes Or passages 14, the upper ends of which are cut out in approximately hemispherical form to fit and afford seats for the spherical or ball shaped upper ends 16 of the tubes 18. A retaining plate 20, having recesses corresponding to those in the die 10, is secured in the upper face of the die and serves to retain the tubes 18 against displacement upwardly, although the balls 16 have a loose enough fit in the cavities in which they are seated to permit them to rotate freely therein.

The external diameter of the tubes 18 is considerably less than the diameter of the passages 14, permitting the lower ends of the tubes to swing freely as far as may be necessary in practice.

In the illustrated mechanism the lower ends of the tubes 18 are tapered externally, as shown at 22., to fit more or less accurately the cavities 24 in the tread face of the rubber heel 26 which is to be attached to the heel base 28 and shoe 80. The internal bore 32 in the upper portion of the tube 18 is suf ficiently large to permit the head of an attaching nail 34 to pass easily through it, while in the lower portion of the tube the diameter of the bore is reduced, as shown at 36, so that it is slightly smaller than the nail head but the difference is not sufficient to prevent the nail from being driven through when sufficient force is applied by the driver. The shoulder 38 at the junction of the portions 32 and 36 of the bore in the nail tube serves to support the nails after they are delivered to the die and before they are driven, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The length of the reduced portion 36 of the bore is somewhat less than the length of'the nail 34, and the proportions are preferably such that when the nail is hanging in the tube the point of the nail will be approximately at the apex of the cone of which the tapered surface 22 is a portion. The upper end of the bore of the tube 18 is flared, as shown at 40, sulficiently to insure that the end of the driver shall enter the tube, regardless of the angular position of the latter. This is well illustrated in Fig. 1 wherein it is apparent that, even when the tube 18 is swung toward one side to the limit of its movement, the upper edge of the flared opening 10 does not come within the periphery of the hole 4-2 in the retaining plate 20.

A ring or form 44 is supported upon the under side of the nailing die 10 and has an opening 46 identical in shape and size with the outer edge of the heel 26 when the lat ter is flattened upon the heel base 28. The ring 44 is of substantially the same thickness as the rubber heel 26 and confines the latter positively against lateral expansion. lVhen thus confined the rubber heel is practically imcompressil'ile and sufficient pressure may, therefore. be exerted through it to,

press the base 28 tightly upon the heel. seat of the shoe preparatory to driving the nails.

In the modified form of tube illustrated in Fig. 4, the walls of the tube are formed of resilient material, for example, spring steel. the tube being slotted at 458 to provide a plurality of resilient fingers 50. The lower ends of these fingers are tapered and swaged inwardly, as shown at 52, until they are practically in contact with each other. hen a nail is dropped into a tube of this form its point is supported and centered by the inwardly turned ends 52 of the fingers each other with great accuracy.

50, .ri li-ioh also act 'to center and guide the nail as it is being driven, it "being understbod. that the fingers are ,sufliciently resilient to .yield and all-ow the nail to pass through under "the force of the blow imparted to the man by the driver. As in the case 'ofthe solid tube, shown in Fig. 3, the tapered lower end of the split tube shown in Fig. 4 fits approximately the cavity 24 in the rubber heel.

In the process of attaching 'a heel with the aid of the improved r nechanisni described the rubber 'heel is located in the opening 46 of the ring 44 and the shoe 30 and heel base 28 are properly positioned with relation to the rubber heel as illustrated in a. In positioning the rubber heel in the ring 44. against the under side of the nailing die it) the ends of the tubes 18, which project'aproper distance from the face 0f the die '10 and which, as above described, are freely movable, enter the cavities 24 in the tread face of the rubber heel a'nd' ai'eipos'itioned properly in the said cav- 'ities :by "the work itself, even though the cavities are not positioned 'or spaced from Having thus located the washer bearing portions of the rubber heel and keeping in mind the fact that the lower ends of the tubes are freely movable Vin thenai'li'ng die, it will 'be *obvious that they will follow the located points in the heel said points are shifted under the influence of the pressure to be supplied. In the illustrated heel the washers 54: are. as 'is usual, concentric with the cavities 24- and, consequently, the nails sus pended in the tubes 18 will always be properly directed to enter the holes in the washers.

The shifting "of the cavities and washers in the heel is particularly conspicuous when aheel of curved-cross section is subjected to flattening ilDiQSSUl'G and the condition at the end of this step in the operation is clearly shown in Fig. 2 where it is apparent that 'theiends of the *tubes and the points of the nails have followed the movement of the points inthe heel which were previously. loc'ated.v In the particular instance illus- "trated the outside tubes have swung inwardly until they are approximately verticalbut this-is only illustrative-and not necessarily 'typical of the final relative positions of the tubes, which will be different with different individual heels.

Fig. 2 shows the condition which exists when the pressure has been applied and the drivers have started to descend to drive the attaching nails. As the drivers contiirueto descend they e'ngage and drive the attaching nails, seating the heads of the latter upon the washers 54 and attaching the rubber heel 26 and base 28 to 'the shoe.

After the drivers have been "retracted and the pressure released, the shoe, with the heel attached, is ready 'to 'be removed from the machine.

The drivers 12, as willbe understood, are

comparatively long and sufficiently resilient so that they have no diificulty in following the nail passages in the tubes 18 even though the latter be swung to one side or the'other to the limit determined by the size of the passages 14. In the modified form of the invention shown in Fig. 6 the nail guiding members or elements project different dis- 'tances from the heel engaging face of the-die 10. This arrangement is particularly useful for attaching the form of heel shown in Fig. 7 in which 56 indicates cavities similar to the cavities 24- in the heel illustrated in Fig. 5. Each of these cavities has beneath it the usual washer. Between the cavities 56 are roughened or corrugated areas '58 ha'vng no washers beneath them. Separate nails '60, serving only to attach the heel base 28 to the shoe, may be driven within the areas 58 and entirely through. the rubber heel 26, until their heads are flush with the surface of the base. Experience has shown that, if the point of a nail is started at the bottom of'one of the depressions in "the roughened area 58, any mark that may remain on the "surface of the heel after a nail is driven and the driver withdrawn is so inconspicuous as to be almost, if not quite, invisible whereas, if the point of the nail catches upon one of the elevations on said roughened area, the rubber is liable to be more or less torn and a --noticeable defacing mark is left. In order to ensure that the nails 60 shall be properly started, the shorter nail guiding members "of the die shown in Fig. 6 are made in the form shown in Fig. 4. Their pointed ends readily find the bottoms of the depressions in the areas 58 and the best possible results in nailing are secured. While the longer na'il guiding members or tubes in Fig. 6., which engage in the cavities 5,6, are shown as of the same form as those in Figs. 1 and 2, they may, of course, be like the others.

It will be perceived that the present invention embraces the novel principle of finding or locating certain points 'or portions of a rubber heel at which nails are to be driven, whether such pointsbe accurately or inaccurately placed according to a predetermined standard, and following the movement of such points, if they be shifted during the attaching operation, as distinguished from shifting portions of the heel into register or alinement with drivers and nail passages disposed in rigid relation to each other, according to a predetermined standard. The application of this principle is believed to be new in the art, and it is desired and in tended tool-aim it broadly. It will, furthermore, be apparent that the specific. example of the invention hereinbeforedescribed and illustrated is subject to many variations, and it should be understood that it is given merely for illustrative and descriptive pur poses in order to enable a clear understanding of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is 1. That method of attaching cushion heels which comprises locating points in the heel at Which nails are to be inserted, applying pressure to the heel to force it into contact with a shoe or heel base, following the movement of the located points during the application of the pressure, and thereafter inserting and driving attaching nails into and through the heel at the final positions of said point 2. That method of attaching cushion heels containing washers which comprises first locating the holes in the washers, then applying pressure to the heel to force it into contact with a shoe or heel base, following the movement of the previously located washer holes during the application of the pressure, and finally inserting and driving heel attaching nails into and through the holes in the washers.

3. That method of attaching cushion heels having a tread face formed to indicate points at which attaching nails are to be driven which comprises engaging the tread face of the heel at each of said points with a movable tool, pressing the heel upon a shoe or heel base, following with said tool any movement of said point which may occur during the pressing operation, and driving an attaching nail at the place where said tool finally comes to rest.

4-. That method of attaching cushion heels of curved cross section which comprises first locating points at which attaching nails are to be driven in the heel, then flattening the heel while following movement of'the located points, and finally inserting and driving attaching nails into and through the heel at the final positions of said points.

That method of attaching a cushion heel containing cavities in its tread face which consists in introducing movable tools into said cavities, applying pressure to force the heel into contact with a shoe or heel base, allowingthe tools to follow any shifting movement of the cavities which may occur during the pressure applying operation, and driving attaching nails through the heel at i the final positions of said tools.

6. That method of attaching cushion heels mtaining washers which comprises first engaging the washer bearing portions of a heel by nail guiding tools, applying pressure to the heel, keeping said tools in engagement therewith while allowing them to shift with the selected portions of the heel, and finally driving nails through the guides while the heel is under pressure.

7. A heeling machine nailing die having a loosely mounted nail guide therein, freely movable in all transverse directions.

8. A heeling machine nailing die having a nail guiding tube mounted therein for free, transverse operating movement.

9. A heeling machine nailing die having a nail guiding tube mounted therein for free, universal operating movement about a point remote from its nozzle end.

10. A heeling machine nailing die for attaching a heel having a special formation of its tread surface at the points where attaching nails are to be driven, comprising freely movable nail guides having heel engaging end portions which in form are complemental to said special formation of the heel at the nailing points.

11. A heeling machine nailing die for attaching a heel having cavities in its tread face con'iprising a plurality of nail guiding tubes having tapered nozzle ends which are freely movable transversely and project from the heel engaging face of the die.

12. A heeling machine nailing die having nail guiding members projecting from its heel engaging face and means for supporting nails in said members with their points projecting slightly therefrom.

13. In a nailing machine, a nail guiding tube having a nozzle with an approximately conical outer surface, and means for supporting a nail in the tube with its point substantially at the apex of said conical surface.

14. A nailing die having a nail guiding element mounted and arranged to be moved to operative position transversely of the line of drive of the nail by the work into which the nail is to be driven.

15. A nailing die having a nail guiding element mounted and arranged to be positioned transversely of the line of drive of the nail by engagement with that surface of the work into which the nail is to be driven.

16. A nailing die having a nail guiding element mounted and arranged to be positioned transversely of the line of drive of the nail by engagen'ient with the work at the place where the nail is to be driven.

17. In a heeling machine. the combination of means for finding and following the movement of cavities in the face of a cushion heel, means for applying pressure to the face of the heel, and means for driving attaching nails into the cavities.

18. In a heeling machine, the combination of means for finding and following the movement of the washer bearing portions of a cushion heel, means for applying pressure to the heel, and means for driving attaching nails through the washers.

19. In a heeling machine, the combination of means for finding and following the movement of certain selected points on a cushion heel, means for applying pressure to the heel, and means for driving attaching nails through the heel at said selected points.

20. A heeling machine nailing die, having a heel engaging face and a plurality of nail guiding members projecting difierent distances from said face.

21. A heeling machine nailing die having a heel engaging face and a plurality of nail guiding members mounted for free universal movement and projecting different distances from said face.

22. A nailing die, for use in nailing Work having different surface characteristics at different nailing locations, having movable, self positioning nail guides, which are constructed differently to co-operate With said different surface characteristics.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN B. HADAWAY. 

